He's done it again/The Joshua Effect.
8 May 2013 • Joshua, joshua radin, joshuaradin, love, Lovely Tonight, music, Simple Times, Underwater, Wax Wings, We Were Here
Now regular readers/real life friend-types, you will all know by now that I love, adore and fangirl-worship Ohio-born whiskey-loving singer-songwriter Joshua Radin. I recently booked tickets to see him live in London; I got up at 8am and ran all the way to campus just to be sure I'd get a computer that worked, so I sat refreshing the BUY TICKETS page while the cleaners all bustled around me with their Henry Hoovers and disinfectant spray (we students are a mucky bunch when we're studious)... I got my tickets, printed off every possible booking confirmation page I could find, and made my little sister a special little printout, because this will be her fifteenth birthday present from me.
This will be the fourth time I've seen him live. I've been with my (then-)boyfriend to see him in Brighton under the pier; with my Dad to see him at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London; with my Mum to see him at KOKO Camden last September - not even a year ago! - so basically I have shared my love for him, and the properly incredible experience that is seeing him live, with a lot of people I care about. My sister is going to have the best time, and also she'll be out 'n' about in London on a school night! How scandalous.
I can't find you; my luck is down and I'm feelin' blue.
Joshua has this amazing quality about him, in that he is able to write down and sing exactly what I am feeling at THIS (and every other) precise moment in my life, and he doesn't even know it. He's helped me through the bad times, and cheered me on throughout the good. His albums are a soundtrack to several different eras of my life, and I just discovered the latest one.
I know I'll never find another like you, where I'm going.
'We Were Here' taught me what I love most in music. 'Simple Times' got me through school, and a wildly inappropriate crush. The 'Unclear Sky' EP sang me to sleep for years. 'I Missed You' is a single that I always listen to when I'm travelling home. 'Underwater' kept me going throughout my first year at university.
And now, 'Wax Wings', the first album Joshua Radin has produced himself, is seeing me out of my second year and guiding me into the next phase of my life. This album has moments so perfectly captured in song, it's just incomprehensible. I happened to be sitting on my bed yesterday, reeling from a sudden revelation and wondering what it meant, what I should do next; not really thinking, I hit 'play' on my iPhone and heard 'Like They Used To', and suddenly it all made sense. I knew what I was feeling, I knew what to do (more importantly what I genuinely wanted to do), and I almost cried with relief and happy realisation.
I'm also delighted that one of my old favourites from the 'Unclear Sky' EP has resurfaced; 'Lovely Tonight' is, to me, a story of two people who connect and share something special one night, then wonder if it's real afterwards. As a hopeless romantic with a wealth of bad experience and false promises, this song gives me hope. So thank you, Joshua. You've done it again.
See you (again) on the 4th of June.
May 1st, 2013.
1 May 2013 • beautiful, friends, ink, life, love, lovely day, my day, my life, perfect, sunshine, today
Today is a serious contender for the best day of my life. The sun is shining, the day is May, I'm in my honourary hometown lapping up the good vibes with some of my favourite people.
Considering last night I had the lion's share of a bottle of Jack with my friends before going out and abusing my wristband privileges at our recently-dubbed 'local' pub/bar and scoring some £3 jam jar cocktails (cocktails, named after Smurfs, in jam jars - ingenious, right?) and a vodka sunrise from a kind stranger; kisses were had, lies were told regarding my relationship with my best friend ("we're brother and sister, obviously! See the matching nose rings?") and my trademark freak-outs in the toilets were, well, frequent. Photos were taken in compromising positions, i.e. a hedge on the way to the local, and upon waking this morning I discovered two boys in my bedroom (best friend and best friend's boyfriend who is also a best friend, what?) and legs that felt as though they were encased in concrete - in my drunken state I had forgotten, it seems, about the treacherous hills of Winchester.
Today life decisions were made, circumstances were altered for the better, and true clarity was realised. Ink stained me, sunshine kissed me, and fortune smiled upon me. Peppermint mocha never tasted so good. I sat in the beautiful cathedral grounds lazing happily with the aforementioned favourites, before heading to a really exciting opportunity (which became a reality, within the hour no less, hello new job!) then back to campus to be reunited with my beloved Learning Cafe. As much as I hate this expression, the creative juices are in full flow. My afternoon promises the final pieces of work reaching completion, maybe even some self-indulgent work happening, then tonight is set aside for a much-needed catch-up with a wonderful and consistently smiley friend.
Signs are everywhere. Good signs. Clear, if unbeknowst to others, signs. I currently have a particular song following me everywhere I go, and a feeling deep within that says I'm onto something good. Also, I have a long and happy weekend ahead of me involving friends, family, home, funk 'n' soul, alcohol, face paint, flowers and climbing cliffs. May Day is in full swing. And I know it's gonna be a lovely May.
Some of the best things I've ever known have happened today; a year's worth of goodness has happened, and it's only just 3pm.
Considering last night I had the lion's share of a bottle of Jack with my friends before going out and abusing my wristband privileges at our recently-dubbed 'local' pub/bar and scoring some £3 jam jar cocktails (cocktails, named after Smurfs, in jam jars - ingenious, right?) and a vodka sunrise from a kind stranger; kisses were had, lies were told regarding my relationship with my best friend ("we're brother and sister, obviously! See the matching nose rings?") and my trademark freak-outs in the toilets were, well, frequent. Photos were taken in compromising positions, i.e. a hedge on the way to the local, and upon waking this morning I discovered two boys in my bedroom (best friend and best friend's boyfriend who is also a best friend, what?) and legs that felt as though they were encased in concrete - in my drunken state I had forgotten, it seems, about the treacherous hills of Winchester.
Today life decisions were made, circumstances were altered for the better, and true clarity was realised. Ink stained me, sunshine kissed me, and fortune smiled upon me. Peppermint mocha never tasted so good. I sat in the beautiful cathedral grounds lazing happily with the aforementioned favourites, before heading to a really exciting opportunity (which became a reality, within the hour no less, hello new job!) then back to campus to be reunited with my beloved Learning Cafe. As much as I hate this expression, the creative juices are in full flow. My afternoon promises the final pieces of work reaching completion, maybe even some self-indulgent work happening, then tonight is set aside for a much-needed catch-up with a wonderful and consistently smiley friend.
Signs are everywhere. Good signs. Clear, if unbeknowst to others, signs. I currently have a particular song following me everywhere I go, and a feeling deep within that says I'm onto something good. Also, I have a long and happy weekend ahead of me involving friends, family, home, funk 'n' soul, alcohol, face paint, flowers and climbing cliffs. May Day is in full swing. And I know it's gonna be a lovely May.
Some of the best things I've ever known have happened today; a year's worth of goodness has happened, and it's only just 3pm.
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